Log-impregnating machine



Jan. 7-, 1930.-

G. LAU ET AL 1,742,960.

LOG IMPREGNATING MACHINE" Filed Oct. 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l anoembow GEOfGE L140 g ikq/v/rffi (/52. A64.

ymgwcw Jan. 7, 1930. G. LAU ET AL 1,742,960 LOG IMPREGNATING mcums .7

Filed Oct. 22, 4928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l I g amoembom GEOEQELHU [k4 N/rfi (/ELM.

Patented Jan. 7, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE LAU, or JAMAICA, NEW YORK, AND FRANK J. PAVELKA, or CLINTON,

CONNECTICUT LOG-IMPREGNATING MACHINE Application filed October 22, 1928; Serial No. 314,294.

This invention relates to wood impregnating devices and in particular to a new impregnating machine'which is adaptable for use in connection with logs.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a compact unit which may be moved from place to place and which is arranged to receive the end of a log which is to be impregnated throughout its length with a preserving or coloring liquid.

A further object of the invention is to provide a log impregnating mechanism which will be mounted upon a chassis and which may be moved Vertically so that a minimum of handling of the logs will be necessary in treatment thereof.

A further object of theinvention is to arrange upon a suitable chassis, the entire operating plant and to mount upon a movable table, a log holding clamp and hood so that logs, regardless of size, may be quickly and efiiciently operated upon.

In our improved machine, we have eliminated one of the steps heretofore used in the impregnation of a log, that is, the forcing of air through the log in order to force the sap out. Wehave found that by forcing the liquid under high pressure into the hood and automatically exhausting the air from the hood so that the entire pressure of the liquid therein may be evenly distributed over the blunt end of the log that the entire log will be impregnated from bark to bark and the,

sap will be forced out ahead of the impregnating liquid.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully comprehend the underlying features of our invention that'they may embody the same in V the various modifications in structure and 40 relation contemplated, a drawing depicting a preferred form has been annexed as a part of this disclosure and in such drawing, similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which, Figure 1 is a view in top plan illustrating the lay-out of our improved log impregnating unit, the view showing the liquid handling mechanism on one end. and the log hanlding mechanism on the other end.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the unit illustrated in Figure 1, parts thereof being broken away to-show the interior construction.

Figure 3 is a front view in elevation of the clamp frame illustrating how the clamps are mounted at the proper angle to effecdicates the chassis upon which the entire unit is mounted, this chassis being made of sheet steel preferably and flanged at its outer 05 edges, the chassis being supportedv at spaced relation with the ground through the medium of the swivelle'd castor 6, one of which is provided at each corner of the chassis. This chassis supports, through the medium of the-table guide 7, the table 8 which is made substantially the same as the chassis in that it is a steel plate having flanged edges and adjacent the fourcorners thereof, it has secured thereto the" depending pipes 9 which telescope into the outer pipes 10 supported on the chassis 5, both of the pipes constituting the table guides 9 hereinbefore referred to. It is quite evident that through the use of these table guides,the table may have free vertical movement relatively to the chassis and in order to carry out this feature, the center plate 11 is secured to the underside of the table at its center and supports a depending jack screw 12 which passes through a threaded bushing 13 which has a forced fitwithin the sleeve 14. This sleeve 14 forms a hub for the center of'the jack ring 15 which ring consists of a peripheral flange band 16 joined as by welding ,or otherwise to the 0 sleeve 14and to the ring 16, this construction providing a ring which may be revolved and carry with it not only the sleeve 14: but

' also the bushing 13, the bushing resting upon the chassis 5 and consequently forcing the 9:; jack. screw 12 upwardly or downwardly therein depending upon which direction the jack ring 15 is revolved. This movement of the jack screw raises and lowers the table in order that the working parts of the lmpreg- 101$ 20. In this way a variety of logs of diflerent diameters may be accommodated without thenecessity of changing the hood and it is quite evident that the lesser the angle of the inner wall of the hood, the less will be the weight, due to the cutting of the end of the log to fit therein. Also, the less chamfer necessary on the end of the log, the greater will be the area of impregnation which is very desirable.

The inside of the hood is finished smoothly so that a liquid tight joint is made between the wall of the hood and the chamfer of the logwlien the latter has been drawn thereinto through the medium of the clamp. The hood 20 is provided in its rear wall with a series of openings one of which is arranged to accommodate an air vent pipe 22 which is held in the rear wall of the hood in a suitable stuffing box 23, it being understood that loosening of the stufling box nut 24 will permit withdrawal or insertion of the pipe 22, depending upon the size of log occupying the hood. A suitable vent valve 25 is provided in the end of the pipe 22 so that as the liquid fills the hood, the airwill be vented and it will be possible for the entire space between the hood and the log to be completely filled with the impregnating liquid.

Another stuffing box in the end of the hood indicated by the numeral 26 accommodates a fluid drain pipe 27 through the medium of which any liquid left in the hood after the impregnating process has been completed may be siphoned into the reservoir 28in addition to the two stufling boxes. The hood end is provided with an inletpipe 29 which is connected by the flexible hose 30 to the compression tank 31, this flexible hose 30 being necessar in order to emit ad'ustment of the hood vertically. he pressure tank 31 is supplied by the pipe 32' which conveys the impregnating liquid from the pump 33. This pump 33 is provided with a pump handle 34 and is of any well-known'commercial type. If desired, this pump may be also operated by electric power but it is sufficient tonote that it is so situated that it will throw off the liquid from the reservoir 28 through the pipe 35 and force it into the pressure chamber 31 which is providedwith a suitable pressure slot 36 and gauge glass 37, the pressure being suitably builtup in this tank 31 and being supplied to the hood as desired through the medium of the valve 38 which is carried at the outer end of the pipe 29. Suitable valves 39 and 25 may be employed in the pipes 27 and 22 respectively for controlling the outlets therefrom and also to close the same when the liquid pressure is applied inside the hood during an impregnating process.

The hood member or casting 19 is provided in its flange 21 with aplurality of openings through which pass the clamp rods'40, thev ends thereof being threaded to receive suitable adjusting nuts 41 through the medium of which longitudinal movement of the rods 40 is accomplished in order to draw the hooks 42 tightly into the wood of the log so that the same will be drawn in turn into the hood 20. These hooks 42- are made from spaced hook plates 43 whichare joined by the rivets 44 andare pivoted on the pin 45 in suitable brackets 46 secured in the clamp frame 47.

These brackets 46 are disposed at the corners of the clamp frame so that the hooks will swing toward the center of the frame and consequently will be self-adjusting to any size log placed into the frame. The brackets 46 are riveted or otherwise secured in the frame '47 which is in turn, through the medium of the angle members 48, secured in position at i the front of the table 8.,

In operating our improved device, it is simply necessary to bring the log up to a point adjacent the frame 47 and pass thechamfered end thereof through the frame and into the hood after the same has been adjusted through the medium of the jack ring and jack screw to the proper height. When the log has been placed into the hood, the books 42 are drawn upon by the rods 40 which are'adjusted by 'the turning of the nut 41 on the threaded end thereof, so that the hooks are drawn tightly into the log surface and continued tightening up' onthe nuts 41 will draw the log into the hood and will practically seal its chamfered edge against the interior surface of the hood. After this has been accomplished, the air valves 25 in the vent pipes 22 are opened and the pumping operation commenced, the liquid being drawn from the reservoir 28 and being either an impregnating liquid or a coloring chemical and which, after passing through the pressure tank into the hood and theremaining liquid in the hood compartment will be drawnoff through the outlet pipe'27 and -back,.into the reservoir 28. .After this has been completed, the nuts 41 on the rods 40 that no forcing out of the sap as an additional step in the process need be accomplished.

It is also evident that in a machine of this character that is mounted on a suitable chassis, that the impregnating hood and log holding frame may be adjusted to the proper height to receive a log of any size, thus mak= ing handling of the log unnecessary and inthis way, saving the time of the operator.

It is evident that an individual can handle the entire process and apparatus without assistance as the power exerted by the jack screw will be ample to raise the table and hood and frame supported thereon.

While we have illustrated and described our invention with some degree of particularity, we realize that in practice various alterations thereinmay be made. We therefore reserve the right and privilege of changing the form of the details of construction or otherwise altering the arrangement of the correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

' Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure byv United States Letters Patent is z 1. A log impregnating machine comprising a mobile chassis, a table thereon, means for raising and lowering said table, a hood carried by the-table into which one end of a log to be impregnated is placed and means for forcing a-liquid into said hood.

log to be impregnated is placed, means for introducing a liquid into the hood under pressure, said means including a pump and pressure tank mounted upon said chassis and a clamp holding frame mounted on the table and arranged to engage said log to draw the end thereof into the hood forcibly.

6. A log impregnating machine comprising a mobile chassis, a table mounted thereon, telescopic guide members connecting the table and the chassis, a jack'screw secured to the 'under side of said table, a jack ring for moving the screw vertically whereby the table may be raised and lowered and a pressure hood carried on the table into which one end of a log to be impregnated is placed.

7. A log impregnating machine comprising a mobile'chassis, a table, guide members supporting the table on said chassis, a jack screw secured to the table, a jack ring mounted for revolving movement on said chassis and arranged to operate the jack screw to cause-raising and lowering of said table, a frame at one .side of the table, a hood at the opposite side of the table into which one end of a log to be impregnated is placed, the log passing through said frame, means for forcing a liquid into said hood whereby the log will be impregnated throughout its length and a plurality of hook members carried by said frame and means for drawing upon said hook members whereby the log end-will be forcibly secured within said hood. I

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

GEORGE LAU.

L. s.] FRANK J. PAVELKA. [n s.]

2. A log impregnating machine comprising a mobile chassis, a table thereon, means for raising and lowering said table, a hood carried by the table into which one end of 'a log to be impregnated is placed and means for drawing the-log end into the hood forcibly.

3. In a log impregnating machine, a hood into which the log end is placed, means for forcing liquid into the hood, an air vent pipe in the hood and a liquid drain pipe in the hood, both'of said pipes being adjustable rela- L tively to the log end.

4. A log-impregnating machine comprising a mobile chassis, a table thereon, means for raising and lowering saidtable, a hood carried by the table into which one endpf-a log to be impregnated is placed and means for forcing the liquid into said hood and means for drawing the log end into the hood forcibly.

5. A log impregnating machine comprising a mobile chassis, a table thereon, means for raising and lowering said table, a hood carried by the table into which one end of a 

